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Tuesday, May 18, 2010

Unless they have been living in a cave somewhere then pretty much everyone has heard of sites such a Facebook, Twitter and MySpace, how could they not have? These sites are so popular that they are not only mentioned frequently in on TV shows and in movies but they have also become headline news on numerous occasions. Facebook has apparently had a hand in helping to catch several criminals and you have no doubt heard the stories of celebrities airing their opinions of one another on Twitter.

My point is this...social networking sites are HUGE hotbeds of activity; from bored housewives wanting some social interaction to celebrities wanting to connect with their fans, from teenagers wanting to chat with friends to grandmothers trying to keep up to date with their families and from musicians promoting their music to gamers sharing their MMO exploits, social networking sites cover almost every social group you can think of. Don't believe me? Try typing Amish into Facebook, last time I looked there were over 3000 fans for the Amish as a religious organisation. For a culture that doesn't allow technology that really is impressive!

So what does this have to do with making money?

With so many people gathering in one place there is no doubt going to be a way to make money from it. You can advertise your business on Facebook, this does cost money but the fact of the matter is that Facebook not only has much better audience targeting system for its advertisers but it also has MORE people visiting it than Google does!

People began advertising their products and services on Facebook fairly early on, they create pages or even whole new profiles specifically for their businesses and websites then invite people to join thus gaining free advertising. Groups are created for everything from financial advisors to ghost hunters.

And what about the applications? Facebook is rife with little browser games that give the user a few minutes of entertainment per day, people log on to check on their game and spend pretend money on decorating and buying new items. The creators of these applications can earn money from advertisements but that's not all. Not only do you have the choice of paying pretend money for you game items, you also have the option to use real money. I was stunned to find that people were joining a group that was campaigning to be able to spend MORE money on a game, when I asked why on earth you would want to spend real cash on the game I was told that a young boy had managed to ride up a £6000 bill on his mother's credit card. Most people on these social networking sites don't just play one or two games they play multiple games. Even if they are not spending real money they are still providing the application designers with a nice profit in advertising.

How do you cash in on the social networking sites?

This depends on what it is that you do. Can you design browser games for people on Facebook and MySpace? Great then crack on with it. Once you are finish pass it on to your friends and ask them to do the same, ask people to test it and tell you what they think then use the feedback to make it more appealing.

For those of you have already have a business or website that you want to promote then go ahead, make your pages, groups and profile and get people interested in what you have to offer. But don't stop there, the social media sites have wonderful integration possibilities. Not only can you keep your followers up to date by using RSS or Atom feeds, a lot of these social media sites can be connected. In most cases you can set up your accounts to update one another automatically. You post a video on YouTube and the same link is then posted on Facebook, Twitter, FriendFeed, etc, etc without you ever having to lift a finger!

Social networking not only gives you the ability to stay up to date on what friends and family all over the world are doing but it also gives you the opportunity to make sure that they stay up to date with you.